Here are my shoes (well, most of them)…

I hate buying shoes. There are few activities I hate more. It might be because I’ve had a very hit-and-miss history when buying. Roughly in order of purchase:

MISS — ancient brown semi-casual shoes [1]. Subject to endless gags from lovely girlfriend (aka fashion consultant) and just about everybody else. Comfortable, if nothing else.

HIT — the Birkenstocks [2]. Nuff said.

MISS — very shiny Florsheim work shoes [3]. Look okay, but give me pains in my right foot every time I wear them. They say that everybody has one foot that’s bigger than the other, and for me it’s evidently my right. Despite the shop assistant convincing me they seemed to be the right size, they’re clearly too small, and even the ingenious plan of pottering around in them with a wet sock to stretch the leather inside provided only temporary relief. They’re size 9 ½, and I’m obviously a 10. They’re going in the charity bin shortly.

HIT — a pair of Vans brand sneakers [4] bought several years ago. Have lasted a while, though starting to look a bit ratty now. I still like ‘em. Kind of light grey coloured, with red laces.

MISS — Rockport shoes I bought in near-desperation the night before flying to Canberra. Casual black shoes? What was I thinking? General derision from my local fashion consultant (girlfriend) when I showed them to her, and on reflection, she was right. Alleged casual shoes shouldn’t look like that. Returned them to the shop the next day on the way to the airport.

HIT — Ecco sneakers [5]. Cool. Comfortable. By appointment to the Danish royal family apparently, though I haven’t spotted Princess Mary wearing any.

TBA — black Hush Puppies work shoes [6]. Bought last week to replace the shiny Florsheim shoes. Very comfortable on Saturday at the wedding. Noticeably less comfortable the other day at work, leaving nasty looking sores on the back of my ankles, but maybe I’m now at the stage of properly wearing them in. Perhaps I was wearing thicker socks on Saturday? Or perhaps the alcohol on the night caused me not to notice?

Hopefully my luck is improving.

Do you have some favourite or hated shoes? Leave a comment or link to a picture.